Towing clayware



1952 I J- WALLEY EI'AL 2,612,729

' TOWING CLAYWARE Filed Oct. 10, 1949 In veniors J01"? 1V6? John flrfhun/ 1250/2 y Patented Oct. 7 1952 OFFICE TOWING ornrwssn John Walley and .l'ohn'A. Johnson, Stokearr-Trent, England Application October 10, 1949, Serial No. 120,515 In Great Britain October 9, 1948 This invention relates to the towing of articles of clay-ware.

The object of the invention is to provide means whereby this operation can be performed mechanically, instead of by hand, and to enable the Operation to be carried out quickly and precisely, without damage to the clay-ware articles.

The term towing as used in this specification refers to an operation in the nature of polishing which is performed upon a clay article after it has been formed and partially dried, but before it is fired-the term being derived from tow, the polishing medium formerly used for the purpose.

Referring to the drawings which form a part of this specification:

Figure l is a part sectionalelevation ofthe upper part of the towing machine.

Figure 2 is a half sectional elevation and Figure 3 a transverse section of the main towing element.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation at right angles to Figure 1 showing a further towing element.

The machine comprises a frame or bench I!) in which a vertical spindle H is mounted and car ried in suitable bearings one of which is seen at 2. A plate 1-3 having a boss H8 is secured on to the upper end of the spindle H. 'The'plate l3 carries a support l5 shaped to conform generally to the contour of the article l6 tobe dealt with. The support is faced with soft cushioning members I I on which the article can rest. There are apertures at I8 in the members [6 where the curved part 18 of the article would otherwise rest, so that this part [9 does not oiTer any resistance to the correct centering of the article, which, as will be seen, is supported at the centre and near the rim. The spindle H is drivenin any convenient way, for instance by mechanism such as is used to drive the spindle and head of a pottery shaping machine such as a jigger.

Various driving arrangements are well known for such machines. An' electric: motor may provide the power needed. Above the spindle H and in alignment with it a vertical rod 20 is provided. This rod is free to slide up and down in bearings 21, 22, carried by brackets 23, 24 from 'a column or housing 25 upstanding from the top of the frame or bench iii. A lever 26 is pivotally connected to the rod 20 at 27. The lever26 extends into the" column or housing 2-5 where it issupported on a fixed pivot 28 and the other end of the lever is connected at 29 to an operating link 30, the link having a screwed adjustment at M to alter the amount of movement it imparts to the lever 26 and rod 20. The lever 2'5 has a 12 Claims. (01. 51- -3) slotted connection at 32 with the rod to, facilitate this adjustment. The link 30 may be actuated by an'y suitable mea'ns, for example by a cam mounted on a shaft, and driven through suitable,

reduction gearing from the same power unitas that which drives the spindle l I or from a separate power unit; whichever is mor e'convenient. On the lower 'end of the rod 20. is mounted the main towing element, see especially Figures 2 and 3. A holder 33 having a dovetailed recess 34 receives a carrier 35 and the carrier has a depending part 36. The towing element is secured by bolts and nuts 37, 38 between the part 3 5, and. a

separate member 38. This element consists of a rib or strip of rubber or similar flexible material :33 faced with a material 45 which will act. as an abrasive, for instance a material abrasivei n itself such asemery cloth, or a material which will pick up clay particles and acquire abrasive properties by using the particles as an abrasive agent,

such as flannel or other suitable fabric." This towing element 43, '45 has a split 'or division 45 approximately in the centre, the effect of which isthat when the division 44 lies centrally-of the 26, in that it is mounted on a pivot 52 in the housing 25, and has an operating link 53 con-H .nected to its other end at 54with a'screwed ad justment for the link53 at 55, while the linkj53 is actuated in a similar way to the link 30, for instance by another cam on the same shaft. symmetrically around the rod a bracket structure is mounted in-a fixed position, and carries four (as shown) or any other suitable num-f I ber of levers 6!, each mounted on a pivot 62 and each carrying aroller 63 at its upper end. As shown, each roller 63 is carried by a plunger 64 spring loaded at 65 andadjusted by a screw 56 in a holder 61. Each lever 61 is further springloaded at 68 adjacent its pivot. Any other arrangement may be adopted, however, whereby the levers 6[ will have their upper ends riding against 'the cone 47 and susceptible to the movement or" the cone under the action of the lever 50, so that.

thereby the levers 6| will move about their pivots I 652 and their lower ends will converge inwards upon the edge of the article. The l'ower end .of each lever carries a further towing element for 3 acting upon this edge or marginal portion of the article. This consists of a block H of rubber or the like with an abrasive facing 12 gripped and held with the aid of a securing strip 14 in a dovetailed holder 13. The two towing elements seen at each side of Figure 1 are adapted to act only upon the extreme rim or periphery of the article by means ofa groove 1'5 in their faces. The towingelement the back of which is seen in the middle of Figure 1 is shown in side view in Figure 4 and differs from the others in that the,

element is shaped at 16 to engage under rather a larger area of the underside of the article, and the lower arm of the dovetailed holder is extended under the rubber or the like H to support it. Assuming that the machine has four of these further towing elements, as shown, there could be two of each kind, but this is not essential. The object is to ensure that an article having a decorated scalloped or similar edge can be towed without the edge being spoiled.

In operation, an article 16 is placed in the head resting on the parts H, the head is rotated by means of its spindle H, and the towing elements H, 12 engaging with the periphery of the rim of the article are preferably actuated so that they move into engagement slightly before the main towing element 43, 45, so that they are able to exert the centering action before towing commences.

It will be obvious that the engagement of the towing elements with the articles must be light and flexible because of the fragile nature of the articles.

It may be desirable in some cases to hold the articles in position on the head with the aid of suction.

In the machine illustrated it has been assumed that the articles will be placed in the head and removed by hand. It would be possible, however, to do this mechanically, for instance by a rotary carrier or by a continuous conveyor. For instance a table could be operated in a succession of limited rotary movements, the table carrying the articles into the towing position and depositing them in the head, and carrying them on again after towing: the table might make four movements of 90 each and be raised and lowered between movements; in the first position an article and a saddle would be placed on the table, the table would move through 90 and deposit the saddle in the head with the article on it. After towing the table would pick up the saddle and article and carry them a further 90 where they could be subjected to cleaning action by means of air blast and suction. Finally a further 90 would carry them round to the unloading and re-loading position.

The main towing element might have additional splits or divisions at other points besides the central one 44 already mentioned, in order to increase its flexibility.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for towing clay-ware articles comprising a head adapted to support the article, a towing element of a flexible nature extending without interruption diametrically across the face of the article and shaped to coincide with the contour of the article, said towing element being provided with a slit at substantially the center of the length of the element extending at approximately right angles to the face of the article, means to impart rotary movement to '4 the head and article, and means to bring the article and towing element into contact.

2. A machine for towing clay-ware articles as defined in and claimed by claim 1 wherein said towing element includes a strip of flexible material and an abrasive facing thereon.

3. A machine for towing clay-ware articles comprising a head adapted to support the article, a main towing element of a flexible nature extending without interruption diametrically across the face of the article and shaped to coincide with the contour of the article, said main towing element being provided with a slit at substantially the center of the length of the element extending at approximately right angles to the face of the clay-ware article, additional towing elements grouped around the main towing element, means to impart rotary movement to the head and article, further means to move said further towing elements to converge on the periphery of the article, and additional means to move the main towing element into facial contact with the article.

4. A machine for towing clay-ware articles as defined in and claimed by claim 3 wherein said further towing elements include a body portion of flexible material and an abrasive facing there- 5. A machine for towing clay-ware articles comprising a head adapted to support the clayware article, means to impart rotary movement to the head and clay-ware article, a flexible towing element mounted above the head and adapted to extend diametrically across the face of the article supported in the head, an abrasive facing on said flexible element, said flexible element and facing being-provided with a slit at substantially the center of the length of the element and facing extending at approximately right angles to the face of the article so that said article is acted upon by towing surfaces yieldable to the oppositely acting frictional forces on each side of the center of rotation, lever means operatively connected with said towing element for lowering the element into contact with the face of the article, additional towing elements adapted to engage the peripheral area of the article, and lever means adapted to move said further towing elements to converge on said peripheral area.

.6. A machine for towing clay-ware articles as defined in and claimed by claim 5 wherein said further towing elements engage the peripheral area of the article slightly before the flexible towing element engages the face of the article.

'7. A towing element for use in a machine for towing clay-ware articles comprising a body member having a working face conforming to the face of the article and adapted to make contact with the face of the article along a diameter, the said body member being flexible and provided with a slit at substantially the center of its length, the slit extending at approximately right angles to the working face of the body member.

8. A towing element as defined in and claimed by claim 7 wherein said body member is rubber.

9. A machine for towing clay-ware articles comprising a support for the clay-ware article, means to impart rotary movement to the support and article, a rib of resilient material disposed above said support, said rib having a contour conforming to the face of the article and adapted to lie diametrically across the article, the said rib being provided with a slit at substantially the center of the length of the rib extending at approximately right angles to the face of the clay-ware article, and means to bring the rib into contact with the face of the article.

10. A machine for towing clay-ware articles as defined in and claimed by claim 9 wherein said rib is provided with a facing of abrasive material.

11. A machine for towing clay-ware articles as defined in and claimed by claim 9 wherein additional towing elements are mounted for converging movement upon the periphery of the article.

12. A machine for towing clay-ware articles as defined in and claimed by claim 11 wherein means are provided to move said additional towing elements into engagement with the periphery of the article slightly before the engagement of the rib with the face of the clay-ware article so that said additional towing elements exert a centering action prior to towing.

JOHN WALLEY. JOHN A. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,345,374 La I-Iodny July 6, 1920 1,572,451 Taylor Feb. 9, 1926 2,370,491 Rice Feb. 27, 1945 10 2,377,992 Carlson June 12, 1945 2,442,107 Wallich May 25, 1948 2,468,404 Miller Apr. 26,1949

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 71,616 Austria Apr. 25, 1916 493,497 France May 3, 1919 

